Don’t be a f@#$ing lazy arse, realize your dream!
Ever since I was a little girl, all I wanted to be was a writer. To me words are not just meaningless alphabets strung together. Alphabets make words, words make sentences that convey meaning, and sentences form stories that lead you on adventures, make you all in love, help you paint pictures in your mind and also build a career.
There was only one problem with this grand plan. How the hell do I get it?
I know what it’s like to sit and dream about things. The problem with that is they only remain dreams. Therefore, at the tender age of about seven, I decided to take things into my own hands (yes, even as a kid, I was an action-driven thing). I started reading all sorts of books and way before it became fashionable, I start keeping a journal. I wrote stories, plotted the demise of my enemies and escaped out of crazy family drama. I ranted and raged! I still do it today, heh
As I matured, I looked for jobs that allowed me to expand my writing capabilities. I moved from administrative roles to internal corporate comms and to agency life. I learnt more about government relations and corporate messaging, delved into engineering, food & nutrition, pharmaceuticals and technology. I learnt more about storage and pure systems that I liked. Most importantly, I learnt about whom I was and what I would like to do. Mentors have taught me that the road to a career doesn’t simply stop once you embark on a certain path. You need to constantly keep up with trends, be curious, network (no, not just go out and get drunk), be in-tuned with the news and general happenings and just be ‘with it’. You always need to be hungry for the next thing, you need the appetite to learn and be challenged by what you find.
My journey to being a writer has evolved towards being someone who crafts messages that are aimed at changing the way we perceive certain products, people and ideals. I’m not simply a ‘writer’ but in some ways, I am.
This is probably why I am always annoyed by friends who keep asking what they need to get the perfect career. I’m annoyed when people ask me to recommend interesting jobs. Why? Because I don’t know what you bloody want! What is interesting to me may not appeal to you. Then we both think the other is useless.
Instead of having lots of useless conversations, I’d encourage them to define their needs in the most specific way. Don’t just write your dream down. Pen the steps that you need to take to get there:
- Write down your attributes – what are your strengths? What do you do well? Do a top 5 list.
- What do you like to do? In terms of work, are you a skilled organizer, number cruncher, events whiz? Do you know a lot of people?
- What are your top fields to work in? Pick the top 3. No, we can’t all work for Google. Do some research!
- How do you go about getting what you want? Do you need to start at the bottom? Get an additional degree? Who do you talk to?
Oh, and you know what I wanted to be as a little girl? I wanted to be a novelist ;)
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